Spoilers for Buffy episode 2/25, Storyteller -- beware!
One of the things I've found interesting this year that Buffy's been doing (well, the show, I mean, not Buffy herself) is that they've stepped back a bit from their pattern of subverting the tropes and foundational elements of their stories, something they've done pretty consistently since the show started. Instead of necessarily making fun of their own making fun, they've taken the tropes and either expanded on them, or used them in different ways to accomplish a somewhat similar goal. I'd grown very used to the way they subverted their own storytelling or mocked the genre cliches they used, so it took me a while to realize that in some ways, they're actually doing more straightforward storytelling than they have in the past, even in the context of largely humorous episodes like last night's, or Selfless. There's the usual cultural gutting, but it hasn't been as overt as in the past.
Storyteller really brought this home for me. It starts out with the usual cliches as you'd expect them to be for an Andrew-centric story (his imagination making him Alistair Cooke, or the evil genius scientist, and so on), and then the usual skewering of those pretensions (he's in the bathroom on the toilet, hiding, or he's being besieged by the Scoobies), but underneath there's a more straightforward story that not only shows us who Andrew is, but also shows us who other characters are by their reactions to him and the manner in which he chooses to see them (and how they relate to him). And it did it all with seriously deft humor.![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
herself_nyc discusses some of the other things I really liked last night, especially the fanfictiony quality of how Andrew views the others (and how they view their own relationships), and she also mentions something I thought was cool, a very Rosencrantz and Guildenstern quality to the Mexico scenes -- go read her, she's more coherent and intelligent about it than I could ever hope to be.
What fascinated me most about last night, and what will linger for me long after the jokes and the Andrew story are gone, was that we found out something really important not just about Andrew, but about Buffy, in the end. While the focus of the final big scene was on Andrew finally admitting what he'd done, and really understanding who he was and what he was capable of, it was Buffy we found out new things about. Andrew, we knew -- even if he didn't know. But this part of Buffy was fascinating -- she'd planned it out, she knew what had to happen, and she was willing to go to whatever lengths it took to make it happen. This is another part of that adult nature I really was blown away by from the past few eps -- she keeps getting more and more steady and sure of herself even while she's feeling more and more vulnerable and afraid. Her scene with Andrew showed us just how far she's come -- and while the humor targets this whole Buffy as speechifying general stuff, the drama shows us just how much of a strategist and leader she really is.
But of course, it's hard to separate the humor from all of it, and it was just delightful. I have already replayed the scene with Buffy and Spike a number of times (shut up!), not just because it's one teeny glimpse of Spuffiness in a long sea of no contact, but also because I just loved seeing how the two interacted in Andrew's imagination -- that he sees them with the same romantic, soft lighting and tender regard that fans see them is meta funny while still being a satisfying little glimpse of something we S/B writers want to see (and a pretty damn nifty trick for Jane Espenson to have pulled off). And while Xander and Anya's attempts to find out their real feelings was funny at times, it was also horribly poignant and sad to see just how far past the line of recovery they've fallen. Andrew watching and replaying that conversation, and having memorized Anya's lines, broke my heart -- I'm sure there were people who thought it was funny, but for me, the initial laugh was followed immediately by a sad ache, because we're being confronted with just how sad and pathetic Andrew is, and how much he gets out of these romantic images, whether tragic or melodramatic. And again, this is a very fanficcy setup, and one that normally we'd see ME subvert, but which here they'd kept straightforward with a very keen, sharp, cutting edge.
The in-jokes were wonderful too -- Principal Spooky and Spike's "sexual tension" being possibly my favorite. It's always driven me half-crazy how fans, especially slash fans, are so desperate to find UST in a show that they'll create it even when there is none, or how they immediately pick up on anger or hate as UST even when, sometimes, it's just anger or hate, so I adored that this incredibly significant emotion on Wood's part was being reduced to UST by Andrew -- and the other joke in there that Spike automatically seems to create that feeling in anyone, regardless of who they are or what they feel. I also loved the graffiti on the school walls -- the lovely lameness of the sentiments was brilliant.
All in all, a fabulous episode with some seriously fannish humor. I'd expected far less, because Andrew, for me, isn't a main character and I've been concerned he would lose his effectiveness as a guestage by being brought too far forward, but they handled this nicely -- possibly becuase they didn't spend the time subverting the story, but rolling with it instead. I'll treasure the humor, but in the end, what will stick with me will be the glimpses of the other characters -- especially this new, adult Buffy -- that show us the new identities they've developed and are still creating.
One of the things I've found interesting this year that Buffy's been doing (well, the show, I mean, not Buffy herself) is that they've stepped back a bit from their pattern of subverting the tropes and foundational elements of their stories, something they've done pretty consistently since the show started. Instead of necessarily making fun of their own making fun, they've taken the tropes and either expanded on them, or used them in different ways to accomplish a somewhat similar goal. I'd grown very used to the way they subverted their own storytelling or mocked the genre cliches they used, so it took me a while to realize that in some ways, they're actually doing more straightforward storytelling than they have in the past, even in the context of largely humorous episodes like last night's, or Selfless. There's the usual cultural gutting, but it hasn't been as overt as in the past.
Storyteller really brought this home for me. It starts out with the usual cliches as you'd expect them to be for an Andrew-centric story (his imagination making him Alistair Cooke, or the evil genius scientist, and so on), and then the usual skewering of those pretensions (he's in the bathroom on the toilet, hiding, or he's being besieged by the Scoobies), but underneath there's a more straightforward story that not only shows us who Andrew is, but also shows us who other characters are by their reactions to him and the manner in which he chooses to see them (and how they relate to him). And it did it all with seriously deft humor.
herself_nyc discusses some of the other things I really liked last night, especially the fanfictiony quality of how Andrew views the others (and how they view their own relationships), and she also mentions something I thought was cool, a very Rosencrantz and Guildenstern quality to the Mexico scenes -- go read her, she's more coherent and intelligent about it than I could ever hope to be.What fascinated me most about last night, and what will linger for me long after the jokes and the Andrew story are gone, was that we found out something really important not just about Andrew, but about Buffy, in the end. While the focus of the final big scene was on Andrew finally admitting what he'd done, and really understanding who he was and what he was capable of, it was Buffy we found out new things about. Andrew, we knew -- even if he didn't know. But this part of Buffy was fascinating -- she'd planned it out, she knew what had to happen, and she was willing to go to whatever lengths it took to make it happen. This is another part of that adult nature I really was blown away by from the past few eps -- she keeps getting more and more steady and sure of herself even while she's feeling more and more vulnerable and afraid. Her scene with Andrew showed us just how far she's come -- and while the humor targets this whole Buffy as speechifying general stuff, the drama shows us just how much of a strategist and leader she really is.
But of course, it's hard to separate the humor from all of it, and it was just delightful. I have already replayed the scene with Buffy and Spike a number of times (shut up!), not just because it's one teeny glimpse of Spuffiness in a long sea of no contact, but also because I just loved seeing how the two interacted in Andrew's imagination -- that he sees them with the same romantic, soft lighting and tender regard that fans see them is meta funny while still being a satisfying little glimpse of something we S/B writers want to see (and a pretty damn nifty trick for Jane Espenson to have pulled off). And while Xander and Anya's attempts to find out their real feelings was funny at times, it was also horribly poignant and sad to see just how far past the line of recovery they've fallen. Andrew watching and replaying that conversation, and having memorized Anya's lines, broke my heart -- I'm sure there were people who thought it was funny, but for me, the initial laugh was followed immediately by a sad ache, because we're being confronted with just how sad and pathetic Andrew is, and how much he gets out of these romantic images, whether tragic or melodramatic. And again, this is a very fanficcy setup, and one that normally we'd see ME subvert, but which here they'd kept straightforward with a very keen, sharp, cutting edge.
The in-jokes were wonderful too -- Principal Spooky and Spike's "sexual tension" being possibly my favorite. It's always driven me half-crazy how fans, especially slash fans, are so desperate to find UST in a show that they'll create it even when there is none, or how they immediately pick up on anger or hate as UST even when, sometimes, it's just anger or hate, so I adored that this incredibly significant emotion on Wood's part was being reduced to UST by Andrew -- and the other joke in there that Spike automatically seems to create that feeling in anyone, regardless of who they are or what they feel. I also loved the graffiti on the school walls -- the lovely lameness of the sentiments was brilliant.
All in all, a fabulous episode with some seriously fannish humor. I'd expected far less, because Andrew, for me, isn't a main character and I've been concerned he would lose his effectiveness as a guestage by being brought too far forward, but they handled this nicely -- possibly becuase they didn't spend the time subverting the story, but rolling with it instead. I'll treasure the humor, but in the end, what will stick with me will be the glimpses of the other characters -- especially this new, adult Buffy -- that show us the new identities they've developed and are still creating.
